The 25-year-old paramedic, from York Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, denies one count of rape, two of assault by penetration, three of sexual assault and one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, between 2009 and 2012.

During the summing up, the judge, Mr Recorder Mark Milliken-Smith, reminded jurors that Mr Bridger had said he came out as gay to his family at the age of 16 or 17.

"He agreed that people liked and trusted him and to some extent looked up to him but he denied having a dark side," said the judge.

Mr Bridger is accused of raping one woman and fondling four others during his time as a trainee at a hospital and later while working for South East Coast Ambulance Service in Surrey.

Kiss 'laughed off'

During the trial, one woman said she was attacked as her girlfriend slept in the same bed, while another said Mr Bridger assaulted her after accompanying her to halls at St George's University Hospital after she became upset during a Freshers' Week fancy dress party in September 2008.

However, the paramedic denied raping the woman in her halls, describing it as a "consensual drunken fumble" and that the night had confirmed to him that he was gay.

He also denied attacking a second student as she was laid in bed after she texted him saying he was missing a good night while at work.

Speaking about the woman who accused of him of raping her while her partner was in the same bed after she got drunk at a Christmas party in 2011, Mr Bridger told the jury it never happened and they only shared a drunken kiss in a disabled toilet.

Mr Bridger told the jury that the pair had "laughed off" the kiss and then carried on dancing.

He also admitted having sex with one of the woman complainants but said it was consensual.